Are You the Cause of Your Plumbing Damage?

May 31, 2016

Running water is such a norm in our culture that, most of the time, we don’t even think about it. That is, until it’s not there.

Have you ever had your water cut off or your plumbing go out? It immediately becomes impossible to do the most basic of things in life. No water comes out of the tap when you want to wash your hands or fill a glass of water. Nothing comes out of your shower head when it’s time to bathe. You can’t flush the toilet. You can’t water your flowers.

Having no water can be frustrating, but before you start looking to outside reasons to blame, first ask yourself, “Am I the cause of my plumbing damage?”

Although certain types of damage are out of our control, there are, unfortunately, many ways that we directly cause damage to our plumbing. Here are a few activities that commonly cause plumbing problems:

Throwing solids down the drain. They do not dissolve, so they end up clogging your drains and blocking water. Too many solids can also rot pipes due to the buildup of germs and bacteria.

Not calling a professional. Plumbing is not an area where you want to experiment. Because it is so specialized, it can be difficult to fix and easy to mess up. So, when you’re faced with a major or plumbing issue, don’t poke around to see if you can fix it yourself – call a plumber.

Pouring grease down the drain. Just like solids, grease is a major no-no inside your drain. Your plumbing will suffer once grease starts to solidify and build up. Not to mention you can scald the piping if you pour the grease down when it is hot.

Not knowing where the main water valve is. When trouble comes and your house starts to flood, even before you call the plumber, you need to immediately shut down your water valve. If you don’t know where it’s located, you can end up experiencing great damage to your home while you’re waiting for the plumber to arrive.

Using too many chemical cleaners. Yes, your drain may be clogged, and that magical cleaner can instantly unclog it, but using these strong types of hazardous chemicals on a regular basis with gradually erode your pipes.

Not identifying signs of possible damage. Familiarize yourself with the most common plumbing problems, so you can detect warning signs if something is not right. The sooner you address a problem, the less damaging and less expensive it will likely be.